(Persia Digest) – Commander of Iran’s border police has announced: “Due to recent skirmishes in some Iraqi cities, the Chezabeh and Khosravi borders were closed last night.”

Persia Digest (PD) reports that while millions of pilgrims from Iran and other countries are on their way to Iraq to commemorate Arbaein (40th day of the death of Imam Hossein (AS), third Shia Imam and the Prophet’s (PBUH) grandson), some districts in a number of Iraqi cities have been the scenes of clashes rooted in economic difficulties on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

A number of people have lost their lives and many more were injured during the protests. The Iraqi National Security Council condoned the rights of the demonstrations for their legitimate demands, but condemned the acts of sabotage that took place simultaneously with the demonstrations.

Influencing the Arbaein Day rally with suspicious slogans to prevent people’s presence on this day and also opposing Hashd al-Shaabi show trends behind the scene of demonstrations.

Hashd al-Shaabi is a popular militia force close to Iran in Iraq which took shape during the fight against Daesh.